Listmania!
"Imaginative fiction" from the British Isles
The Time Machine (Penguin Classics)The Time Machine (Penguin Classics) by H.G. Wells
Buy new: £4.45 / Used from: £2.34
Arguably the greatest SF story ever written. Kent born writer.
1984 Nineteen Eighty-Four1984 Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
Buy new: £5.09 / Used from: £2.86
Perhaps the greatest of all dystopian works. In this vision, there is editing of history & language to ensure that even the thoughts of the populace are progressively straitjacketed.
Brave New World (Flamingo Modern Classics)Brave New World (Flamingo Modern Classics) by Aldous Huxley
Buy used from: £4.29
A warning of the dangers of accelerated technological advance coupled with totalitarian rule; a world where genetically engineered castes are controlled through mind stultifying drugs & brain washing.
Frankenstein: or `The Modern Prometheus': The 1818 Text (Oxford World's Classics)Frankenstein: or `The Modern Prometheus': The 1818 Text (Oxford World's Classics) by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Buy new: £3.55 / Used from: £1.10
Did Mary Shelley gift to the world the first SF novel? Academics and fans are still arguing over this.
The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oxford World's Classics)The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oxford World's Classics) by Oscar Wilde
Buy new: £3.46 / Used from: £0.97
A morality tale from a great Irish writer.
A Clockwork Orange (Penguin Modern Classics)A Clockwork Orange (Penguin Modern Classics) by Anthony Burgess
Buy new: £4.84 / Used from: £3.00
Nightmare vision of a not-too-distant future, from a Mancunian born writer.
Lord of the FliesLord of the Flies by William Golding
Buy new: £4.36 / Used from: £0.43
As I look at the young gangs on the street I think of this novel; this is a hint of what happens when children bring up children.
Star Maker (S.F. Masterworks)Star Maker (S.F. Masterworks) by Olaf Stapledon
Buy new: £4.48 / Used from: £2.45
Not as deep and sonorous as 'Last and First Men' - but far pacier and more uplifting - this is another fine offering from Stapledon that builds towards a truly awe inspiring conclusion.
Stand On ZanzibarStand On Zanzibar by John Brunner
Buy new: £6.97 / Used from: £1.20
A hefty read; frankly a bit of a slog at times - but well worth it.
The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy: A Trilogy in Four PartsThe Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy: A Trilogy in Four Parts by Douglas Adams
Buy new: £6.96 / Used from: £0.01
Answers many of the problems connected with life, including: 'Why are people born? Why do they die? Why do they want to spend so much of the intervening time wearing digital watches.
The AlterationThe Alteration by Kingsley Amis
Buy used from: £1.20
The England in this novel has become a disconcerting, quasi-medieval land in the Age of Faith.
The Affirmation (Gollancz S.F.)The Affirmation (Gollancz S.F.) by Christopher Priest
Buy new: £5.98 / Used from: £2.26
A masterful examination of our ideas about memory and identity. I don't always find Priest an easy read, but that's no reason to leave him off the list.
Out of the Silent PlanetOut of the Silent Planet by C. S. Lewis
Buy new: £4.95 / Used from: £2.98
First of a trilogy. Dr. Ransom is abducted and taken to the red planet of Malacandra. Ransom discovers Earth's tragic story is known throughout the universe.
Shikasta Re: Colonised Planet 5Shikasta Re: Colonised Planet 5 by Doris May Lessing
Buy new: £5.96 / Used from: £2.48
A spiritual theme with big ideas. Shikasta showed me many things that I had taken for granted were in fact flimsy in substance.
Dracula (Penguin Classics)Dracula (Penguin Classics) by Bram Stoker
Buy new: £4.19 / Used from: £2.27
Dark, brooding & powerfully atmospheric. Uses letters & diaries v effectively; readers can compare one piece of evidence from Dr Seward with the events of Mina Harker's life & Lucy's sad diary.
The Lost World (Pocket Penguin Classics)The Lost World (Pocket Penguin Classics) by Arthur Conan Doyle
Buy new: £5.99 / Used from: £0.10
A thumping good read. Worthwhile for the character of Prof Challenger alone!
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror (Penguin Classics)The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror (Penguin Classics) by Robert Louis Stevenson
Buy new: £3.97 / Used from: £1.08
What would we do without our literary mad scientists?
Mort (Discworld Novels)Mort (Discworld Novels) by Terry Pratchett
Buy new: £5.23 / Used from: £1.75
Death's apprentice seemed like the dream job. Lots of humour and ironic footnotes.
2001: A Space Odyssey2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
Buy used from: £0.01
You've seen the film, now ....
The Dancers At The End of Time (S.F. Masterworks)The Dancers At The End of Time (S.F. Masterworks) by Michael Moorcock
Buy new: £6.61 / Used from: £3.00
Imagine a decadent far, far society, a time when anything is possible; where words like conscience are meaningless. Born in London.
Consider Phlebas (The Culture)Consider Phlebas (The Culture) by Iain M. Banks
Buy new: £5.96 / Used from: £0.01
The war raged across the galaxy. Billions had died, billions more were doomed. Moons, planets, the very stars themselves, faced destruction, cold-blooded, brutal, and worse, random.